Stoke City's English defender Ryan Shawcross reacts as he leaves the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Stoke City and Arsenal at the Bet365 Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, central England on May 13, 2017. Arsenal won the game 4-1. / AFP PHOTO / Lindsey PARNABY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP/Getty Images)
The legendary Ryan Shawcross of the club had to bench some outstanding players as he reflects on his 13 years with Stoke City teammates.
When Ryan Shawcross assumed the role of Stoke City columnist for a season, the challenge was to curate a dream XI from the multitude of teammates he had played alongside. This formidable task reflected the era when Stoke was challenging and outperforming some of the world’s best teams.
Revisiting this lineup, originally crafted during his illustrious tenure, proves its enduring quality. Presented here as a Christmas treat, Shawcross’s chosen XI showcases the exceptional talent that graced the red and white of Stoke City over the past decade.
Begovic Asmir
While Asmir had three or four years where he was among the top two or three goalkeepers in the Premier League, Tommy Sorensen and Jack Butland enjoyed their best times. He was a great shot stopper who helped us win games, and his solid, steady play got him a transfer to Chelsea.
He was solid, reliable and his kicking was what you wanted from a goalkeeper for us. He was a perfect fit for our team. I hate keepers who are erratic and jumpy, and Asmir was always calm. He’s just that kind of character and he’s had a brilliant career.
Andy Griffin
Griff was an exciting full-back when he broke through at Stoke and I can’t overstate his impact when he came back and I was still a young defender.
He was a tough lad who had a history of playing with things in your locker, but an all-round great guy who got the best out of me. I was lucky to have him, Danny Higginbotham and Rory Delap take me under their wing and guide me.
He is underrated as a player too. Great going forward with good technique and very composed. I felt I was a good communicator on the pitch but he gave me great subtle advice off it.
You could always see he understood the game and I bet he’s a top class coach with Newcastle College.
Abdoulaye Faye
What a man. Always laughing, a squeaky voice you’d never expect and he probably kept us in the Premier League almost single-handedly in that first year up.
He was so dominant, and I used to love how he’d do a Cruyff turn in our own area – then pass me the ball when there was a man on and I was under pressure just to stitch me up no end as the crowd were singing Abdoulaye, my Lord! You could almost hear the fans asking why I wasn’t just doing what Abdy was doing!
Probably one of the strangest turnarounds I’ve ever seen at Stoke. Our best player by a country mile that season then ended up not even making the squad sometimes the next. If he could have kept fit he would have starred in a top, top team.
I learned a lot from first year in how he trained, how he moved.
Robert Huth
Robert Huth is probably up with Denis Smith as Stoke’s best ever defender. We are all praising Harry Souttar now and rightly so – but Huthy was doing what he’s doing in the Premier League. Every facet of his game was top notch.
We had a great relationship on and off the pitch and it was a strange time when he left, having had issues with his knee. It seems ridiculous looking back now, but he wanted to dominate as a defender and didn’t want to play out from the back. I didn’t want him to go but was doing well with whoever I was with at that time.
Everyone thought he was nearly finished when he went to Leicester and people forget they were almost written off as relegated at the time. I remember speaking to him soon afterwards and he was confident they’d stay up. “We’ve got Jamie Vardy up front and he’s rapid.”
But Huthy was the signing to make the difference and we all know what happened next.
Marc Muniesa
I had to get him in.
Along with Huthy, he is the favourite player I’ve played alongside. I loved playing alongside him at centre-half, a really good player with top quality technique on the ball.
He knitted the changing room together too with an infectious smile. He was like the leader of the foreign lads who kept us all as one. A lovely bloke.
IN THE MIDDLE
Steven Nzonzi
Probably made me a better player. I could pass him the ball and let him do the work, no matter what pressure he was under. He was dynamic, his shooting, passing, dribbling was excellent, great physique, aerially brilliant.
I can understand why he’s gone on to have so much success, getting a World Cup winner’s medal, and we probably could have squeezed even more out of him while he was with us. We could have flipped him into an attacking midfielder, we could have even moved him to centre-back he was that good.
As a character he was completely different and he could come across as moody, but I got on with him well. He had really high standards and if they weren’t being met then he’d get in a mood. I think that’s a good thing, not a negative. He was as good as gold around the place and the only people who complained about him were people who didn’t understand him and how good he was.
Glenn Whelan
Whelo was the glue that kept the team together, and even if 99 per cent of people didn’t notice most of what he did, everyone would miss him when he wasn’t there.
A defensive midfielder is there to defend, help the back three or four, patrol and rotate the ball. We let him go too soon. He could have sat there and kept on doing that job for years.
It’s a difficult role to play, no one wants to sit there and not be noticed, but he was good on the ball and had great discipline.
Rory Delap
Rory is probably the best guy you could ever have at a football club. The most likeable bloke, a top pro and top player who drove up standards. There is a nine-year age gap between us but I knew straight away that I’d like him, knew we’d be mates and knew he’d improve me.
I still hate talking about his throw because that’s one per cent of his game. He was great on the ball, could do a shift defensively and was quite a selfless player who would track back, cover a full-back or cover centre-half. He played more than 300 games in the Premier League but he’s still so underrated.
UP FRONT
Matty Etherington
Tony Pulis always demanded that his wingers were the hardest working players and Matty delivered that as well as top division quality. Him, Abdoulaye and James Beattie were three big reasons we were successful.
In fact for two or three years after he signed he probably should have been in the England team.
A good lad too but also had an aggression that made sure if something wasn’t right he wouldn’t let it fester. If there was a problem in the changing room or in our team he’d nip it in the bud.
I’ve been doing my pro licence with him now and always knew he’d have the mentality to switch to be a coach or manager because he has a football brain.
Marko Arnautovic
On the right I’m going for one of the strangest guys I’ve ever come across but an unbelievable player. All the technique, pace, physique to be a world class forward.
He gave glimpses of that when we had him, and when he was in full flight with Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan it was a joy to watch. We had a two-month period in particular in 2015/16 when we didn’t just beat Man City or Man Utd but beat them convincingly.
At times he could be really engaging, great company, very funny and a nice guy. I also fell out with him a lot when he wasn’t polite to people around the training ground. Sometimes he could be downright rude. I thought he was unnecessarily disrespectful when he came back with West Ham.
But the good times were scintillating. Pick your team for Stoke game against Best XI, then share it with others and see the most popular selection by all fans.
Bo-Jon Walters
Apologies, I’ve been a bit sneaky here and if I was pushed I’d have to go for Jon Walters because of his long contribution to Stoke – but I find it almost impossible to leave out Bojan.
Walters was the player that gave the whole squad drive and he made the most of his ability with a sensational work ethic.
And we pressed better when he was in the team. The relentless way he went after some of the best defenders in the world, like Rio Ferdinand, David Luiz, John Terry, was inspirational. He was dominant in the way he chased and dragged the side up the pitch, making everyone work harder.
I’ve still got a good relationship with Bojan and we text each other from the US to Japan. From the moment he arrived you could see what a player he was and as a team and as a club it was our duty to get the best out of him.
